The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and Nutty Ventures AB, based in Sweden, signed a Memorandum of Understanding today, committing to increasing exposure for Pakistani startups in Sweden, developing tailor-made coaching opportunities for Pakistani startups, strengthening acceleration programmes, and allowing international investors and venture capital funds to consider investing in Pakistani startups.
Raja Yassir Humayun Sarfraz, Punjab’s Provincial Minister for Higher Education and Information Technology, remarked at the occasion,
“Government of the Punjab envisions technology as an engine of economic growth as IT is opening new frontiers every day and our aim is to provide best-in-class coaching to startups, so they can compete at an international level for visibility and necessary funding for accelerating growth. I value this partnership because it will provide exciting opportunities to our local startups and will further strengthen PITB’s existing programs in entrepreneurship and freelancing domains”.
It’s worth noting that PITB runs a number of effective incubation and freelancing initiatives around the country, not just in Punjab. All local startups will profit as a consequence of our collaboration.
Nutty Ventures AB has substantial expertise and network in the Swedish startup, impact, and financing ecosystems, and is now operating a Sweden-wide accelerator programme. Mehkar Sheikh, the company’s founder and CEO, stated,
“Today, change is happening faster than at any other time in human history. We need bold new ideas, at an accelerated pace, cutting through the traditional hierarchies and structures. Nutty Ventures will leverage the power of global best practices to create meaningful impact for PITB-backed startups.”
Chairman PITB Azfar Manzoor said,
“Pakistani startups have made their mark in the global arena which is manifested through an increase of over 300% funding raised by local startups during the last year. In line with the vision of the government, PITB’s entrepreneurship and freelancing programs are not facilitating the youth of Punjab through incubation and skills development programs but are also helping them in creating the much-needed linkages with the foreign investors and venture capitalists.”
Sweden is one of the world’s leaders in innovation, startup activity, and, more lately, impact. According to the most recent data, behind Silicon Valley, Stockholm now boasts the largest number of tech unicorns per capita in the world.
